Month of January 2022 (Nat'l Avg $3.286)

Ummm! There is a Scottish classical & popular percussionist named Evelyn Glennie, with huge numbers of honors including a Knighthood. She is nearly deaf & says she uses all parts of her body to hear music as best she can, as self-taught & taught to her by music teachers. She is truly spectacular in concert. She went to Rio de Janeiro to Carnival & learned large amounts, which really shows in her work.
If anyone hasn’t heard of her(& I can’t imagine such), learn about her now.

 

Today , 19 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove.
35.1 miles , fcd = 59.1 x .943 = 55.6 MPG.
Tank is.........dismal. I don't look at it until I fill.

 

I feel your pain, Edwin... luckily, I'm able to stay put as usual. My employer saw the error of their ways and now encourages those who can, to work from home. We use Microsoft Teams for our occasional meetings. Yes, most of our computer infrastructure runs on Windows, including the servers. I do occasional 6-10 mile trips for groceries and takeout, primarily in EV mode but I do run the engine occasionally to exercise it.

It's been so cold lately that I've been using my garage to pre-chill gallon jugs of water destined for my wife's consumption. Sticking the 32.0F gallon in the fridge later lowers the refrigeration load ever so slightly. I do have to limit the pre-chilling time so it doesn't freeze over. Garage temp has been down in the 20s (degF) at night lately.

I've been playing with some limited battery-based backup (advertised/sold as generators) for the house for utility and emergency purposes. I can match the Ford F-150 Lightning generator output other than the battery capacity behind it. It's also portable though just barely at 100 lbs. The batteries charge very well on a couple solar panels I picked up recently for the purpose. The two 380W panels were pushing 840W into the battery yesterday with clear sunshine (even though low in the sky this time of the year). I have a couple more panels to add once I construct some ground mounts for more convenient positioning. I don't feel like doing outdoor construction at 5degF. The two panel replacements in the back yard array are also performing well, better than the 9-year old originals not only due to lost capacity in the older panels, but because I slightly increased the panel capacity while I was at it. They're still limited by the 210W (circa 2012) microinverters though.

 

If/when I get a PHEV , I will try to exercise the engine with a 25 mile highway jaunt every two weeks or so.

My garage is only about 10 deg warmer than outside. But at least I don't have to remove snow or frost.

 

We got down to 0F last night. Garage bottomed out at 17F, but then the sun came up and stopped further decline.

 

"cheap" solar panels, close to $0.50/Watt

Canadian Solar panels purchased from a local alternative energy store

CS3W-390PB-AG 390W Poly BiFacial:
Weight 63 lbs
Length 84 In
Breadth 41 In
Height 2 In

They're about the same width as most run-of-the-mill solar panels, but a little longer.

Bifacial means there's some light gathering from the back side as well. I read they're usually used in commercial settings.

 

We’ve been chilling down over the last week or so. It’s at 32degF right now….. a heat wave for you.

 

Went for a drive along the Snoqualmie River. Ran into lots of chilly fog. Decided to cross the river valley. Surprisingly, I broke out of the fog, even before I went across the river bridge & the sun was immediately warm on the opposite valley side! So much warmth, I wanted to take a walk along the river, which coincidentally(or not) was near the “Oxbow Farms”. Previously, I had thought of the river at this point, only that it curved to cross from one side of the valley to the other side. While walking along the river, my binoculars hinted that the river curved more than I thought, showing the farm was well named. Walking back & forth along the curving river course, I wondered how close the river got to a complete circle. Returning home, my maps showed that the river bend was about half a mile across at its 180 arcdegrees width. But, including the initial upper elevation curve & lower elevation curve, the oxbow bends at least 270arcdeg & is only about 1 quarter mile from completing a circle. At this point the river is moving “up the river valley” & immediately curves almost 180 arcdeg again to start heading “down the river valley”. Interesting! Again, a place I “hurried” by in my younger days, because I was “doing more important things”.

Gee, if there was an EV FREE L2 charging station here, once I get an EV, I could spend many days of time exploring & walking the area, while FREE charging. Could call it “Oxbow Heaven”, which I think the Farm there tries to imply.

 

About 8 miles from us, there is a spring people stop to get pure water without additives to drink & other uses. Once in a while I get some for drinking. My wife uses it for the backyard waterings, specially for our tomatoes & herbs. She thinks the plants do respond to the pure water, better than our city water. Our city water comes from 7000 foot mtns, but it’s fluoridated.

 

Today , 18 deg F in Naperville , 16 in Elk Grove.
Wind N 10. ( headwind ) , light snow falling.
35.1 miles , fcd = 52.2 x .943 = 49.2 MPG.

 

Today , 23 deg F in Northbrook and Elk Grove.
17.2 miles , fcd = 59.4 x .943 = 56.0 MPG.
Expecting snow Tuesday , Wednesday , and Thursday.

 

We’re expecting chilly rain occasionally on those days, further north than your Chicago.

 

The rain quit, so I went for a ride in the Hyundai Accent. Pointed the car towards the clearing skies….. & found some sunshine….& heat! Had to turn the car heater down…..very down! Sweeeeetttt! Quite a few Common Goldeneye on the river, but not many other types(‘cept fer crows) were around. Driving around to another area tho, I saw hundreds of Trumpeter Swans. On the rest of my drive, the sun dodged in & out of the clouds. By the time I got home tho, the clouds were winning. Looks like rain will be in the mountains to wash away snow that fell in the mtns. last night……or more snow.

 

Setting a mole trap won’t be the prescribed method to deal with a pinched nerve…..
Oh, I am so funny!

 

Yeah, retirement is EVERYTHING its cracked up to be!

My advice……1) retire sooner than later; 2) yesterday was NOT too early to retire, & finally 3) to retire tomorrow is acceptable, ONLY if you can’t retire today.

 

Best wishes for a full solution without surgery soon. Let us know how it goes. I had cervical surgery for that just over 6 years ago, because it was impacting motor nerves of my arm.

 

See, see, Gord has the evidence…..right there.
EVs like long drives…..AND…..EVs much prefer going home than to work! See, see, there’s the evidence.